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Monday, November 14, 2005

40 reasons to cast a protest vote in the upcoming elections

I dont in no way agree with some of what he says but he makes alot of valid points!And in other words, summs up the political problem this country faces, with ALL the politicians corupt and morally bankrupted.By Ronny Klein1. Because a white slip is seen as a clear protest. It is counted and documented, even if it is officially disqualified. On the other hand, low voter turnout will be interpreted in any number of ways, such as apathy or laziness.2. Because our politicians, from every political camp, are corrupt to the core.3. Because our politicians lost their shame, a long time ago.4. Because the politicians have sewn up tenders just waiting for their political supporters.5. Because our public officials have turned the Knesset into a city of refuge for criminals by refusing to give up parliamentary immunity. This privilege was originally intended to allow politicians to function as lawmakers without fear, not as criminals without fear.

6. Because it seems that our public officials spend more time at Bar Mitzvahs and weddings of central committee members than in the Knesset.7. Both Likud and Labor continue to slink after the ultra-Orthodox parties.8. Because all the secular parties go on an on about their differing policy objectives, but in practice, Labor talks about pulling out of territory and the Likud carries that policy out.9. Because economically, there are no significant differences between Labor and Likud, and governments including both parties have consistently held back the economy. And don't make too much of Amir Peretz's elevation to Labor leader last week – it's easy to conduct an election economy in order to "make things better for everyone" during an election campaign, but we will all pay the price after the elections.10. Because they waste public money on election propaganda instead of letting us simply read their platforms. For a party to explain why to support it should take five minutes. For it to explain why not to vote for anyone else should take another five. Everything else is gimmick and crap, and an insult to our intelligence.

11. Because even if we read their party platforms, we know full well they will not be implemented. They won't even pretend to implement them. So why bother?12. Because a lot of white slips will prevent small militant parties from passing the electoral threshold to gain election. And if the large parties fail to deliver the goods, what can we expect from the small?13. Because the right-wing "answer" to the conflict is settlements, whereas in reality they never took the necessary steps to make that vision a success, such as massive migration of Israeli citizens, transfer of Arabs or annexation. In the current situation, the settlements are, and will remain, a failed project, the end of which is only a matter of time. Despite all this, the rhetoric continues.14. Because it seems that the left still fails to realize just who we are dealing with on the Palestinian side. Given a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, they created the Oslo Accords, which for all the good intentions, only pushed off the most difficult issues at hand – Jerusalem, final borders, and (most difficult of all) refugees. These issues were left till the end of the process; that is to say, after Israel had paid the price for peace, given away land, and played all its cards.15. Because despite the image portrayed by the Israeli left, the number of Palestinians willing to give up the right of return wouldn't fill up one minibus.

16. Because the Palestinians consider all the places from which refugees fled in 1948 as occupied territory, to which those residents must eventually return. That is to say, there will be no real end to this conflict, and no politician from any political camp will be able to solve this problem once in power. Despite this, they continue to feed us a load of crap with propaganda about their "answers": settlements, return to the 1967 borders, etc. At the end of the day, the diplomatic differences between the parties are differences in fantasies and hallucinations.17. Because in election after election, we are forced to choose between garbage and rubbish.18. Because whichever party that wins will be beholden just as much to the United States.19. Because whichever party wins will have to deal with the Iranian nuclear threat.20. Because whichever party that wins will have to deal with on-going terrorism.

21. Because no party really has any intention of dealing with violence in society.22. Because no party really has any intention of dealing with traffic problems such as accidents and traffic jams, despite heavy taxes motorists pay for cars and gas.23. Because in a modern world that changes so quickly, we must invest most of our resources in modern education for young people and professional training for adults. No party has carried this banner as of yet.24. Because sectoral parties worry only about maximizing the amount their voters get from the country, instead of maximizing the amount they give to the country.25. Try to think about what you wanted to happen following previous election campaigns, and compare this to what you actually got in return from the people you voted for. Think about all the times you voted. It's not a once-off failure, is it?

26. Because even matters of life-and-death, such as the West Bank security fence to prevent suicide bombers from reaching Israeli cities, are held up by political considerations.27. Because a white slip will stress-out the politicians.28. Because for years, governments of all stripes have caved in to political pressure and increased funding to various sectors that encourage indolence and a black economy.29. Because when sharp budgetary cuts were made, they were not accompanied by job creation, so poverty both spread and deepened. The cuts made no differentiation between healthy people that are able to work and the elderly and the handicapped that cannot. And the finance minister who implemented these reforms conveniently stepped down the day before the appalling National Poverty Report was released. He resigned for "political reasons," of course…30. Because in recent years, the government has moved in the direction of privatization. In other words: towards evading responsibility to the citizens of this country. They continue to collect high taxes however, to finance their political objectives. These projects remain quiet, until they appear in the state comptroller's annual report. But even then, no one takes them seriously.

31. Because the level of human raw material we have in politics is going steadily downward. Apart from being corrupt, many of them are illiterate and lack interpersonal skills.32. Because no party has seen fit to direct national resources or Jewish population to the Galilee or the Negev. They are happy for everyone to sit in traffic in and around Tel Aviv. At the same time, they want us to vote for them because of their "solutions" to the Palestinian problem.33. Because no one presents us with national objectives with timetables for carrying them out.34. Because the lust for power and greed of our public officials allows rich people to control national resources and the political system.35. Because they refuse to reign in the banks and allow them to charge high fees to simple people but low fees to the rich. They also take 10 times more interest for bank overdraft than they pay for savings accounts. But it is the national interest for people to save as much as they can. How much must we pay a body whose job it is, after all, to protect our money, but in the meanwhile uses it freely but leaves us only the crumbs?

36. Because we have reached a situation in which only suckers do IDF reserve duty.37. Because political appointments to public positions have long been a central pillar of corruption. Supporters of this practice will claim such appointments are appropriate to "faithful servants", and this is pointedlycorrect: they are the only way to rely that workers won't go public with the corruption in their offices.38. Because Knesset members don't report back on the things they accomplished in their four-year terms of office. Why? Either because they did nothing, or because they don't want us to know what they did.39. Because most of our public officials don't really work for our benefit on a day-to-day basis. And when they do work, it is not on a governmental level, but rather on a level of personal contacts and "protexia". They have no interest in working for people who very well might not vote for them.40. We identify with the officials we elected either sectorally (so they will act for the good of our particular sector, at the expense of another sector of our society), or because of some hazy agreement on their ideas of how to solve the Palestinian problem. Is it any wonder we are essentially alone, facing this huge apparatus that cares little for us? Any other ideas? I will add a few of my own,1. Out of every keneset member only areyeh eldad called for refusing orders and civil disobidience.2. NU stayed in the coalition only untill they were fired june 4th.3. NRP only left the coalition june 9th and that was only effi eitam and yitzcak levi.4. Because the only thing the "right wingers do is release very pathetic statements.5. Because they refuse to discuss transfer of the arabs6. Because any one they dont like they brand as a shabak provocator